Chinese to curb PC use by night owls

Beijing's Tsinghua University has banned first-year students from taking personal computers into dormitories because of fears they will lurk late into the night in internet chatrooms.

The university said students did not need their own computers because it provided plenty of PCs on campus.

Zhou Yueh, an associate director of the university, said the ban had been imposed to stop "freshers ending up burning all their time in internet chatrooms and playing games".

Electrical engineering student Wang Peng said most first-years were angry with the decision. "Not all new students will indulge in games and chatrooms. Having computers in dorms is convenient for doing the work, much of which has to be submitted by computer."

Other universities adopt a different approach. Guangzhou's Jinan University believes that a ban would encourage first-years to stay in 24-hour internet cafes off campus.